The advice offered here is incredibly generous and useful. I say that as a 70 something composer who's been in and out of studios since the 60's. Thanks for this.
Thank you so much for putting this together. As a 61 year-old amateur musician, recording, producing and releasing my own music (under the artist name 58frogs), nearly every one of these tips resonated with me (only excepting the vocal ones as I only do instrumental). I’ve saved this video for future reference as I’ll never remember it all! Keep producing great content Nathan - you certainly know your stuff!
Hey! I spent some time listening to your music on Spotify. First of all, good shit! Great production and mixing my dude. Anyhow, have you ever listened to lofi? While listening to your songs i really felt like they could be good lofi tracks. They have a lot of lofi elements in them already.
@@martinsoderstrand6619 Hi Martin and thanks for listening to my stuff - and for the complements. I have to confess I don’t know what lofi is - can you enlighten me more please?
Stacking effects on effects is awesome Also if you have logic try taking the Trello flipping the polarities at zero so it's more of a LFO tool There's a lot of control shaping with that built-in plug-in that is actually better than some of the LFO software you have to pay for
Great video. Just got myself Logic Pro, been writing on iPad mostly so getting my head around the new DAW, but having fun and that’s the main thing for me, create and have fun
@@4ytherium I’m sorry dude but stick in there. Your passion is strong enough to create on the phone and that’s important. Just create within the boundaries you’re given. Do you record live instruments and stuff a lot as well or do you mix with samples given to you, or compose within the DAW itself from scratch with a mix of all of these things??
The free workshop we have is incredibly valuable - I cover the Production Roadmap and walk through the production process step by step. You can signup for free here: produceracceleratorcourse.com/YTWorkshop
Music theory isn't so much restrictions, it's more like learning a language. I think of it more as learning how to use notes, chords, voicings, scales, inversions, chord changes, and so on, as a way to communicate, knowing music theory helps you be able to intentionally and efficiently convey emotion.
This is true I’ve been recording and producing music for a decade now it’s only been the past year or so I’ve been confident in what I’m doing. In my experience the best thing to do is to work really hard mastering your skills for 2-3 year and then put it all to practice as much as you can. Work with musicians and get feedback from others. The BIG game changer too is to use reference tracks listen to the volume, width, tone everything and if the song is similar to the one you’re working on then copy it. Try to get your mix to sound as close as possible and then you will start to learn how to mix and master properly. From a creative point of view just try stuff, reverse guitar parts, automate a massive reverb on a vocal for one powerful word. Work hard and experiment, don’t think too much about it and if it sounds good it sounds good. Sending love from Glasgow ❤
I’ve been producing since I could walk. I’m 36 years old now and haven’t made a penny working for my dream.. it has been the craziest thing to think about, that I am either more talented than most ppl I come in contact with on a daily basis, yet I don’t make nearly as much money as them and struggle. Oh yea, I forgot to mention, I was addicted to drugs my entire 20s which led me to prison for 5 years!! Is it so much to ask to simply support your family with something you love to do? I’m not even greedy.. I just want financial stability and to reach the world with my beats! I mean my beats ARE THE NEXT BIG BREAKTHROUGH!! If there anyone here that can point me in the right direction… I just want to provide for my 1 year old and start my career!! I’m way to talented!! And I’m sure others can relate!!
>For #11, if vocals are recorded with such a volume difference between sections and there's no way to re-record, i just cut the clip and separate and adjust the volume but add it to the same channel
Hey Nathan - Love your channel and tips. I’ve seen you do many tips on vocals but had a question about whether you’ve ever done a before/after video on a “mediocre” singer and shown what a good producer can or can’t do? Many of us out here doing our own music are probably in that category. Totally understand the initial performance matters a ton, and you seem to have a talented roster and coach your singers, but some of us are limited in what we can actually do and wonder how much a pro can or can’t help. Thx!
About #14: we need the mind-to-midi converter, which translated our musical ideas to midi. This idea I already have for 30 years, but it slowly becomes reality. Hopefully it will be out within 10 years.
I think this type of video is how I found this channel originally. One clipper I love is kclip by kazerog. It’s super light on cpu and it has crazy over sampling that you can just render with but not produce with, so it saves cpu but it still over samples. Another great clipper is newfangled audio saturate. This one sounds the best but makes your cpu work harder.
One tip I can offer for finding the correct volume is to listen to the whole track very quietly - you'll notice transients and the loudest elements first in this situation and it can help you gauge what the most important parts of your mix you want loud.
Sometimes with dense tracks, the simpler the gooder. Sometimes it is hard to quit a project. I have lots of "Almosts". There were a couple that were a time wasting obsession. Others, I stopped, for as much as three years, got back, and just finished in a couple of days.
On your phone you can get an app called blocs wave and record your own loops then import them into another app called launchpad. Its sometimes a good way to get creative juices flowing and a good way to kill time while waiting for the bus
I find just recording with a cardioid polar pattern (a one directional mic pattern for people who don't know the terms) is good for untreated, or not well treated rooms. Even with a condenser mic. Mic placement is huge in avoiding unwanted noise. But nothing beats a well treated room and a decent mic. As for a better tip for getting good levels: set a kick drum reference. Should be about -6dB for the loudest kick in the song, if you're using the standard metering on a DAW.
i thought noone would understand the joke but i was wrong... this means that unison has a very high budget and is primarily focused on paying for ads instead of making quality products lmao
hey y'all may i ask something my GF wants to do vocals and we need a mic for that. which are good somewhat affordable mics to begin with? the 2 mentioned at 0:50 are somewhat too expensive are there solid cheaper alternatives? appreciate
What are some of your favorite kick drums samples that are bassy? :) Thanks I also have trouble finding realistic hand claps samples like I hear on radio, do you have any guidance on that?
greattttt tips! please use the chapter text on screen like you have here and use the youtube chapters in the video. really really helpful for quick referencing
It's really hard to bail on songs if you like the sounds but if I work on something for 3 days and it still sounds wack I delete because of i don't the song will always be in my head being worked in while I'm at Walmart shopping and I won't let it go and also if I don't finish a beat I'll keep adding stuff until it sounds cluttered so sometimes Less is more ❤❤❤ thanks for the advice
Lots of great bits here. I've been producing for a while so have definitely come across a lot before but it's always great to refresh your memory and there will always be something you missed the first time. Never stop learning
for 1, 2 , and 3, I would have to disagree a little bit. I know it's a cliché thing to say "it's not about how expensive it is, but about what you do with it", but in my own experience, I had to made do with what I have. Though its a little more tricky with real life instruments, cheap sound libraries and recording equipment can still work well. The good sounds do sound good, but that doesn't mean the bad ones can't sound good either.
I loved your advise personally as a producer i can't agree more with the tip to learn music theroy without i don't know what im doing but i learned it to a grade 2 level and can completely under stand music.
Learn music theory got me to hit the thumbs up. Have Fun is also a super important tip. I'm going to give more attention to how I can be of service to people with my music.
"Quit While You're Ahead..." The funny thing is, I've done this on numerous occasions, right? "Eh, it kinda sucks," so I save it, and move on to the next one. But... I'll come back to a song a couple of months later out of curiosity, (mostly because I forgot which one this was 😅) and all of a sudden, I've got a million new ideas on where to take it. Some of my best songs have come from something like that.
#12 is my biggest question. ( Stay under 6db ) - So many videos on TH-cam about gain staging with Logic Pro. Some say....-8db...others say ...-18db. I've tried both in my music and have come to feel that if I stay at ....-6 or -8 db....the overall mix just sounds better. Even during the mastering stage I get more dynamics and texture at -8db. What are your thoughts on this? Secondly, Bouncing Midi to audio after mixing. I go back and forth when deciding to bounce Midi to Audio. I find it absolutely taxing bouncing the midi to audio and then trapped. So I bounce all the midi out to Audio and then find myself finding something about the sound of a particular track during the mastering and go....crap....I want to change velocity, modulation or something and then go back to the Midi Track and have to re-bounce this down again. Is it really that important to bounce Midi to Audio if you are using say ....-8db gain staging. Yes some compression can create anomalies on Midi if hard compressed but How does this really matter? My computer is set up for massive loads, so not really concerned with over clocking with midi. But nearly every instrument I use is Midi except for drums and fills. Any thoughts? Maybe a Video on WHY bouncing Midi to Audio is helpful? And the gain Staging for that purpose?
Bouncing midi to audio basically gives you an advantage that before you bounce the audio, u can actually gain stage all the drum elements before u bounce it and then when it's audio, you can gain stage the whole drums as audio. Audio also prevents you from editing the drums easily, so always keep the midi muted and the audio on if u think that u might change the drum break. Except for that, just rinse and repeat. Cheers! - A 5 yr bedroom producer
#15 Taking a breaks primary benefit is to give your ears a break. Our ears get trained during sessions and tune themeselves to the point even something bad can sound good. Not sure why you didnt mention that... Seems pretty important.
Hi Nathan.. Need your help. Ive bought and downloaded what I think to be one of the loveliest sounded sound libraries. The Cremon Quartet plus my Piano colors library. Can you do a little advice on using them creativley please ?
The levels #6 got me a little stumped. When you say split the difference mathematically Like if it’s too loud at 0db and too low at 20db the have it at 10db? I might be over complicating it
20dB is a massive amount of volume. Narrow it down. This is a ballpark method - so don't just do this and call it a day. It's to get you in the ballpark and then you'd dial the details in. Don't overthink this. No such thing as a "perfect" volume setup. Everyone has different preferences
@@samwheeler6213 In a nutshell, a chord inversion is just rearranging the order of the notes in a chord, so that the root note is no longer the bass note. For example playing what is normally the 3rd as the bass note. Tons of videos on TH-cam about it.
I wanted to thank you for all the work and effort you’ve done as an artist, producer and teacher, plus kudos in respect to your intent. I just wanted to push back a little in regards to your notion of time allocated to producing songs vs commercial content. For myself, I haven’t worked in the industry for few years, (TV/MoPic/EDU. So presently, my creative energy is focused in the producing of artistic ‘songs-landscapes’ that might be described as subtle and sublime, and not dependent on economic factors that might define the scope of limitations, one finds when having deadlines or client related constraints as in producing music for commercials. So with that said, I think it’s quite reasonable to let a piece, or a song develop organically, as a kind of ‘agency’ in its self, ( if that makes sense ). Let the muses talk to you, on its own terms, and do not self limit, due to blocking the flow of creativity that comes from experience and awareness. I understand this model doesn’t work if you are trying to be a commercial success in the music business, yet I do believe some of us create in a way that more akin to what a painter or poet may be doing. Technique and musicianship is fundamental to achieve artistic success, yet expediency is not necessarily part of the equation here. Anyway thanks for all your help. Sorry for all the blah blah.
Thanks for the thought out response! I definitely agree there is a difference - my point was "If you want to produce faster" - then do that suggestion. Not everyone needs to. And I don't think that speed = quality but I'm referring to a suggestion for those who feel like they are constantly stuck. Definitely a deep topic to discuss though!
@@NathanJamesLarsen Yeah! I think a talk dedicated to aesthetics, or The definitions of what beauty is, or what art is, in regards to music for the bedroom/loft/independent producer would lend itself to be an interesting topic. There are so many assumptions, biases, prejudices that gets in the way of the flow, and even blocks where the energy comes from. Also I see so many people who are literally depressed or anxious about their artistic abilities or style, to the degree that they are frozen in a kind of a fear, because they are comparing themselves to others, or what the market has defined of what ‘good’ is. Anyway it’s just a thought. Thanks for your response too.
@@bigbambeats9691 Well I humbly and respectfully do not want to usurp Nathan’s knowledge acumen, so I’ll answer this assuming Nathan’s okay with me giving you advice. First of all, helping you presents some difficulty here, since I have no knowledge about your musicianship or technical skills, so with that, I’ll assume (from your response,) that you’re having some kind of artistic existential anxiety thing going on here. The first thing you need to do is build confidence through mastering your instrument. Now I know that many young producers are lacking in musicianship skills because they are approaching music from a kind of postproduction editing point of view, in a sense, or as in this model, the novice producer/artist/engineer is actually splicing/pasting together performance, or performances from other artists. There’s nothing wrong with this, as a matter of fact, if you’re a producer/engineer in this sense, there is a probability that you have no musical skills, such as knowing how to play piano or guitar or bass drums etc. So with that said, I’d say that the best engineers and producers have mastered the interface between their ears, and their equipment, like mixers outboard gear, plug-ins, microphones, etc. And I bet that these successful producers have taken some music theory classes, or an electrical engineering courses, or a course in the physics of audio and music. So their Musicianship assets are their ears, and their decision making capabilities in terms of aesthetics and what is pleasing to the ear. I think this is quite important that a student engineer/producer/artist, should understand what music is, from a physics point of view, starting with knowing what a basic sine wave is and how digital sampling plays into the process of creating audio files and music. Plus they must understand what aesthetics is in regards to art/music, without bias or prejudice. (doesn’t mean you need a PhD or go to college, just means you need to listen more). One of the biggest problems currently, is our culture bias and our echo chamber feedback loop bias that social media reenforces and creates. Artists and producers are coming up with a very limited scope of knowledge, in terms of perception, of what art actually is, (all the variety of definitions),and they are not exposed to the multitudes of forms of music, that are being produced or have been produced, throughout history. Find out who you are, and what you truly resonate with. You don’t have to be a influencer or pop artist. Yet, if you find that you are compelled to be part of a certain type of music idiom, ask your self why. If it’s an idiom that is stylistically difficult for you because of musicianship skills, and or you need certain technical skills in order to achieve the sound, this might present a goal that could be difficult to achieve, if you don’t have the willpower to work at it, or the lack of resources. Start with simple things like achieving solid sonic performances, or post-produced performances. Be kind to yourself, and remember why you chose the path of music, and once you understand that, go have some fun, and maybe you can share that fun with the world, (don’t worry if you don’t get a bunch of peeps following you, it ain’t fun if that’s your goal, just make the best music you can, and give it your best).
The advice offered here is incredibly generous and useful. I say that as a 70 something composer who's been in and out of studios since the 60's. Thanks for this.
Tell us your wisdom O wise one 🫡
Thank you so much for putting this together. As a 61 year-old amateur musician, recording, producing and releasing my own music (under the artist name 58frogs), nearly every one of these tips resonated with me (only excepting the vocal ones as I only do instrumental). I’ve saved this video for future reference as I’ll never remember it all! Keep producing great content Nathan - you certainly know your stuff!
Hey! I spent some time listening to your music on Spotify. First of all, good shit! Great production and mixing my dude.
Anyhow, have you ever listened to lofi? While listening to your songs i really felt like they could be good lofi tracks. They have a lot of lofi elements in them already.
@@martinsoderstrand6619 Hi Martin and thanks for listening to my stuff - and for the complements. I have to confess I don’t know what lofi is - can you enlighten me more please?
Stacking effects on effects is awesome
Also if you have logic try taking the Trello flipping the polarities at zero so it's more of a LFO tool
There's a lot of control shaping with that built-in plug-in that is actually better than some of the LFO software you have to pay for
Excellent reminders of doos and newbies like stacking vox not just dubbling, also for the clipping suggestion.... hope baby doing fine Nathan x
What's the clipper he's talking about? 🙏❤️
Great video. Just got myself Logic Pro, been writing on iPad mostly so getting my head around the new DAW, but having fun and that’s the main thing for me, create and have fun
It’s crazy getting logic after working with garage band for a while I swear
@@Bittamin I have GarageBand on iOS since I cant upgrade my MacBook to macOS Big Sur so I cant use logic or GarageBand :( SAD
@@4ytherium I’m sorry dude but stick in there. Your passion is strong enough to create on the phone and that’s important. Just create within the boundaries you’re given. Do you record live instruments and stuff a lot as well or do you mix with samples given to you, or compose within the DAW itself from scratch with a mix of all of these things??
The free workshop we have is incredibly valuable - I cover the Production Roadmap and walk through the production process step by step.
You can signup for free here: produceracceleratorcourse.com/YTWorkshop
I really appreciate the drum loop trick, I've been struggling with drums a lot so thanks for the tip
Amazing video btw
Music theory isn't so much restrictions, it's more like learning a language. I think of it more as learning how to use notes, chords, voicings, scales, inversions, chord changes, and so on, as a way to communicate, knowing music theory helps you be able to intentionally and efficiently convey emotion.
These were great tips, Nathan! Thanks for sharing your skills!
As a bedroom producer of about a year, this is super helpful! Thanks!
The Architect analogy 🤣 9:41 Great video THANKS!!
Wow! Smartest person I have ever listened to. PHENOMENAL CLEAR AND VALUABLE THINKING!!! And no arrogance or posing either!!!
This is true I’ve been recording and producing music for a decade now it’s only been the past year or so I’ve been confident in what I’m doing. In my experience the best thing to do is to work really hard mastering your skills for 2-3 year and then put it all to practice as much as you can. Work with musicians and get feedback from others. The BIG game changer too is to use reference tracks listen to the volume, width, tone everything and if the song is similar to the one you’re working on then copy it. Try to get your mix to sound as close as possible and then you will start to learn how to mix and master properly. From a creative point of view just try stuff, reverse guitar parts, automate a massive reverb on a vocal for one powerful word. Work hard and experiment, don’t think too much about it and if it sounds good it sounds good. Sending love from Glasgow ❤
here before this blows up
My man. 🙏
My 2 fav guys
I’ve been producing since I could walk. I’m 36 years old now and haven’t made a penny working for my dream.. it has been the craziest thing to think about, that I am either more talented than most ppl I come in contact with on a daily basis, yet I don’t make nearly as much money as them and struggle.
Oh yea, I forgot to mention, I was addicted to drugs my entire 20s which led me to prison for 5 years!!
Is it so much to ask to simply support your family with something you love to do? I’m not even greedy.. I just want financial stability and to reach the world with my beats!
I mean my beats ARE THE NEXT BIG BREAKTHROUGH!!
If there anyone here that can point me in the right direction… I just want to provide for my 1 year old and start my career!!
I’m way to talented!!
And I’m sure others can relate!!
>For #11, if vocals are recorded with such a volume difference between sections and there's no way to re-record, i just cut the clip and separate and adjust the volume but add it to the same channel
Hey Nathan - Love your channel and tips. I’ve seen you do many tips on vocals but had a question about whether you’ve ever done a before/after video on a “mediocre” singer and shown what a good producer can or can’t do? Many of us out here doing our own music are probably in that category. Totally understand the initial performance matters a ton, and you seem to have a talented roster and coach your singers, but some of us are limited in what we can actually do and wonder how much a pro can or can’t help. Thx!
Thanks :-)
Yes, I noticed that when I have a joy during production -> listeners also have a joy during listening
About #14: we need the mind-to-midi converter, which translated our musical ideas to midi. This idea I already have for 30 years, but it slowly becomes reality. Hopefully it will be out within 10 years.
neural link and of the link technology will probably provide this once it becomes mainstream, give it like 15 years
Wait until they invent keyboards?
I think this type of video is how I found this channel originally. One clipper I love is kclip by kazerog. It’s super light on cpu and it has crazy over sampling that you can just render with but not produce with, so it saves cpu but it still over samples. Another great clipper is newfangled audio saturate. This one sounds the best but makes your cpu work harder.
One tip I can offer for finding the correct volume is to listen to the whole track very quietly - you'll notice transients and the loudest elements first in this situation and it can help you gauge what the most important parts of your mix you want loud.
OMG!!!! THANK YOU FOR ALLLLLLL OF THIS
Sometimes with dense tracks, the simpler the gooder. Sometimes it is hard to quit a project. I have lots of "Almosts". There were a couple that were a time wasting obsession. Others, I stopped, for as much as three years, got back, and just finished in a couple of days.
perfect video
I'm so thankful for the time you took to compile such useful information!! Appreciate you
#6 helped me the most tbh 😅
On your phone you can get an app called blocs wave and record your own loops then import them into another app called launchpad. Its sometimes a good way to get creative juices flowing and a good way to kill time while waiting for the bus
I find just recording with a cardioid polar pattern (a one directional mic pattern for people who don't know the terms) is good for untreated, or not well treated rooms. Even with a condenser mic. Mic placement is huge in avoiding unwanted noise. But nothing beats a well treated room and a decent mic.
As for a better tip for getting good levels: set a kick drum reference. Should be about -6dB for the loudest kick in the song, if you're using the standard metering on a DAW.
Thank you for the reminder to have fun. It's funny how quick we forgot to make it fun. Thank you for this video and list.
Pristine content, no clickbait, no BS
5:42 google notes is really good you can record and write and its free and google synced
very interesting and useful! thanks for the tips!!!
Absolutely!
Ah, you're following Jordan's channel too. The clipper on drums was eye-opening for me. Thanks for this overview, Nathan!
Jordan's great. He and I have talked a bit too. Solid dude
Number 6 was great advice... Setting levels..
93% of the time, huh? Unison finally got to you 🤣🤣
Nah - just a joke. Not a fan of Unison. At. All.
i thought noone would understand the joke but i was wrong... this means that unison has a very high budget and is primarily focused on paying for ads instead of making quality products lmao
I got an Unison ad before the video 😂
Very good Nathan...
hey y'all may i ask something
my GF wants to do vocals and we need a mic for that. which are good somewhat affordable mics to begin with?
the 2 mentioned at 0:50 are somewhat too expensive are there solid cheaper alternatives?
appreciate
Great tips! I loved the MIDI inversion tip - definitely using it in my next beat :)
Amazing tips Nathan, thank you! Cheers from Brazil
You guys ever tried the unison midi chord pack?
What are some of your favorite kick drums samples that are bassy? :) Thanks I also have trouble finding realistic hand claps samples like I hear on radio, do you have any guidance on that?
Loved #22! It is so important.
these are some good tips!
greattttt tips! please use the chapter text on screen like you have here and use the youtube chapters in the video. really really helpful for quick referencing
This list took a long time to compile. Thank you
It's really hard to bail on songs if you like the sounds but if I work on something for 3 days and it still sounds wack I delete because of i don't the song will always be in my head being worked in while I'm at Walmart shopping and I won't let it go and also if I don't finish a beat I'll keep adding stuff until it sounds cluttered so sometimes Less is more ❤❤❤ thanks for the advice
Solid gold bangers top to bottom BIGGUPS
Thank you :)
This video is so worth rewatching 💯💯
Good stuff man, thanks for sharing!
Damn these are great tips. I’m one to despise click bait videos so this is a refreshing take. I agree with all his tips
You are incredibly appreciated. Thanks Nathan - cheers from NYC
Ayyy represent to Streaky! That’s what’s up. Haven’t heard another channel give him props before 🤙🏼🤙🏼
26# really slapped me in the face . Thankyou 🙏
Outstanding video, I really like the rapid fire format!
This was super useful, thank you! Especially the vocals tip.
Awesome vids my brother. Really cool tips here.
Very good tips, good luck on all your endeavours✌️
Actually volume and compression last, even after panning because effects, EQ alter volume. But you make some good points.
Lots of great bits here. I've been producing for a while so have definitely come across a lot before but it's always great to refresh your memory and there will always be something you missed the first time. Never stop learning
Wow I will have to try out point 13! I have never thought of doing that.
for 1, 2 , and 3, I would have to disagree a little bit. I know it's a cliché thing to say "it's not about how expensive it is, but about what you do with it", but in my own experience, I had to made do with what I have. Though its a little more tricky with real life instruments, cheap sound libraries and recording equipment can still work well. The good sounds do sound good, but that doesn't mean the bad ones can't sound good either.
Great Tips!
Thank you bro for another great video. I watched it twice to grasp all the knowledge deeply. Keep dropping such wisdom gems.
I loved your advise personally as a producer i can't agree more with the tip to learn music theroy without i don't know what im doing but i learned it to a grade 2 level and can completely under stand music.
Thanks very informative
Thx for this. Great stuff!
🙌🏻💪
Amazing tips Thank you so much 💯✊🏾 Stay blessed 🙏🏾
All of em are just KILLER stuff... Honestly... but # 28 just got me cracking !! Thanks millions mate for these real Gems....🤓👍👍🥇
Learn music theory got me to hit the thumbs up. Have Fun is also a super important tip. I'm going to give more attention to how I can be of service to people with my music.
Nice list of tips, Nathan! Will we remember to follow this advice?
Really fantastic. I appreciate how to the point you are.
Great techniques 🎉
These are very good tips!!
"Quit While You're Ahead..." The funny thing is, I've done this on numerous occasions, right? "Eh, it kinda sucks," so I save it, and move on to the next one. But... I'll come back to a song a couple of months later out of curiosity, (mostly because I forgot which one this was 😅) and all of a sudden, I've got a million new ideas on where to take it. Some of my best songs have come from something like that.
Thanks for this, legend
Have you tried to copy vocal and put a delay on the copies. I think sometimes that is even better then trying to time match layers och voices!?
That'll sound different - so it's an option just another flavor. Not gonna sound the same as double tracking
some nice tricks there that I will surely try out.
#12 is my biggest question. ( Stay under 6db ) - So many videos on TH-cam about gain staging with Logic Pro. Some say....-8db...others say ...-18db. I've tried both in my music and have come to feel that if I stay at ....-6 or -8 db....the overall mix just sounds better. Even during the mastering stage I get more dynamics and texture at -8db. What are your thoughts on this?
Secondly, Bouncing Midi to audio after mixing. I go back and forth when deciding to bounce Midi to Audio. I find it absolutely taxing bouncing the midi to audio and then trapped. So I bounce all the midi out to Audio and then find myself finding something about the sound of a particular track during the mastering and go....crap....I want to change velocity, modulation or something and then go back to the Midi Track and have to re-bounce this down again.
Is it really that important to bounce Midi to Audio if you are using say ....-8db gain staging. Yes some compression can create anomalies on Midi if hard compressed but How does this really matter?
My computer is set up for massive loads, so not really concerned with over clocking with midi. But nearly every instrument I use is Midi except for drums and fills. Any thoughts?
Maybe a Video on WHY bouncing Midi to Audio is helpful? And the gain Staging for that purpose?
Bouncing midi to audio basically gives you an advantage that before you bounce the audio, u can actually gain stage all the drum elements before u bounce it and then when it's audio, you can gain stage the whole drums as audio. Audio also prevents you from editing the drums easily, so always keep the midi muted and the audio on if u think that u might change the drum break.
Except for that, just rinse and repeat.
Cheers!
- A 5 yr bedroom producer
#15 Taking a breaks primary benefit is to give your ears a break. Our ears get trained during sessions and tune themeselves to the point even something bad can sound good.
Not sure why you didnt mention that... Seems pretty important.
just wow ... much informative .. love from India 🇮🇳
This was super helpful
Hi Nathan.. Need your help. Ive bought and downloaded what I think to be one of the loveliest sounded sound libraries. The Cremon Quartet plus my Piano colors library. Can you do a little advice on using them creativley please ?
thank you for the tips!
All super solid. Thanks!
This is gold ❤💯🔥
You are the best bro, thanks alot for the info..
#30 is top, above all) keep up with that!
The levels #6 got me a little stumped. When you say split the difference mathematically
Like if it’s too loud at 0db and too low at 20db the have it at 10db?
I might be over complicating it
20dB is a massive amount of volume. Narrow it down. This is a ballpark method - so don't just do this and call it a day. It's to get you in the ballpark and then you'd dial the details in.
Don't overthink this. No such thing as a "perfect" volume setup. Everyone has different preferences
Is speaker calibration EQ a good alternative to acoustic treatment?
Great tips, thanks 🙏
This is all such great advice!
Thank you sir
9:27 - 9:31 I think of it as "Music theory is a tool, not a rule."
#21 was helpful for me. Going to try out inversions on different tracks. Thanks!
Can someone explain to me what "inversions" refers to?
@@samwheeler6213 In a nutshell, a chord inversion is just rearranging the order of the notes in a chord, so that the root note is no longer the bass note. For example playing what is normally the 3rd as the bass note. Tons of videos on TH-cam about it.
* sets 2x speed = 30 tips in 8 minutes *
Number 28. OUCH! that hurts man! 😣 but thank you though! This is valuable stuff you're telling me!
😜
I found an amazing strat that I use and that seems to be half the battle.
I wanted to thank you for all the work and effort you’ve done as an artist, producer and teacher, plus kudos in respect to your intent.
I just wanted to push back a little in regards to your notion of time allocated to producing songs vs commercial content.
For myself, I haven’t worked in the industry for few years, (TV/MoPic/EDU. So presently, my creative energy is focused in the producing of artistic ‘songs-landscapes’ that might be described as subtle and sublime, and not dependent on economic factors that might define the scope of limitations, one finds when having deadlines or client related constraints as in producing music for commercials.
So with that said, I think it’s quite reasonable to let a piece, or a song develop organically, as a kind of ‘agency’ in its self, ( if that makes sense ).
Let the muses talk to you, on its own terms, and do not self limit, due to blocking the flow of creativity that comes from experience and awareness.
I understand this model doesn’t work if you are trying to be a commercial success in the music business, yet I do believe some of us create in a way that more akin to what a painter or poet may be doing.
Technique and musicianship is fundamental to achieve artistic success, yet expediency is not necessarily part of the equation here. Anyway thanks for all your help. Sorry for all the blah blah.
Thanks for the thought out response! I definitely agree there is a difference - my point was "If you want to produce faster" - then do that suggestion. Not everyone needs to. And I don't think that speed = quality but I'm referring to a suggestion for those who feel like they are constantly stuck.
Definitely a deep topic to discuss though!
@@NathanJamesLarsen Yeah! I think a talk dedicated to aesthetics, or The definitions of what beauty is, or what art is, in regards to music for the bedroom/loft/independent producer would lend itself to be an interesting topic.
There are so many assumptions, biases, prejudices that gets in the way of the flow, and even blocks where the energy comes from. Also I see so many people who are literally depressed or anxious about their artistic abilities or style, to the degree that they are frozen in a kind of a fear, because they are comparing themselves to others, or what the market has defined of what ‘good’ is.
Anyway it’s just a thought. Thanks for your response too.
@@stephenjimenez6129 I deeply resonate with this! That fear! Any tip on how to overcome it, kind sir?
@@bigbambeats9691 Well I humbly and respectfully do not want to usurp Nathan’s knowledge acumen, so I’ll answer this assuming Nathan’s okay with me giving you advice.
First of all, helping you presents some difficulty here, since I have no knowledge about your musicianship or technical skills, so with that, I’ll assume (from your response,) that you’re having some kind of artistic existential anxiety thing going on here.
The first thing you need to do is build confidence through mastering your instrument. Now I know that many young producers are lacking in musicianship skills because they are approaching music from a kind of postproduction editing point of view, in a sense, or as in this model, the novice producer/artist/engineer is actually splicing/pasting together performance, or performances from other artists.
There’s nothing wrong with this, as a matter of fact, if you’re a producer/engineer in this sense, there is a probability that you have no musical skills, such as knowing how to play piano or guitar or bass drums etc.
So with that said, I’d say that the best engineers and producers have mastered the interface between their ears, and their equipment, like mixers outboard gear, plug-ins, microphones, etc. And I bet that these successful producers have taken some music theory classes, or an electrical engineering courses, or a course in the physics of audio and music.
So their Musicianship assets are their ears, and their decision making capabilities in terms of aesthetics and what is pleasing to the ear.
I think this is quite important that a student engineer/producer/artist, should understand what music is, from a physics point of view, starting with knowing what a basic sine wave is and how digital sampling plays into the process of creating audio files and music.
Plus they must understand what aesthetics is in regards to art/music, without bias or prejudice. (doesn’t mean you need a PhD or go to college, just means you need to listen more).
One of the biggest problems currently, is our culture bias and our echo chamber feedback loop bias that social media reenforces and creates.
Artists and producers are coming up with a very limited scope of knowledge, in terms of perception, of what art actually is, (all the variety of definitions),and they are not exposed to the multitudes of forms of music, that are being produced or have been produced, throughout history.
Find out who you are, and what you truly resonate with. You don’t have to be a influencer or pop artist. Yet, if you find that you are compelled to be part of a certain type of music idiom, ask your self why. If it’s an idiom that is stylistically difficult for you because of musicianship skills, and or you need certain technical skills in order to achieve the sound, this might present a goal that could be difficult to achieve, if you don’t have the willpower to work at it, or the lack of resources.
Start with simple things like achieving solid sonic performances, or post-produced performances. Be kind to yourself, and remember why you chose the path of music, and once you understand that, go have some fun, and maybe you can share that fun with the world, (don’t worry if you don’t get a bunch of peeps following you, it ain’t fun if that’s your goal, just make the best music you can, and give it your best).
@@stephenjimenez6129 Thank you!